A COUNCILLOR who asked if homeless veterans could also be housed in migrant hotels was allegedly reported to cops for “stirring up hate”.
Cllr John Edwards claims he was “smeared” after he questioned Bracknell Forest Council’s decision to house more than 300 Afghan migrants in four-star hotels in favour of hard-hit locals.
ConservativesCllr Edwards said his reputation had been harmed, despite his claims of a cover-up turning out to be true[/caption]
APThe Government was forced to cover up the relocation of thousands of Afghans after a major MOD email blunder[/caption]
PACllr Edwards called for migrants to be treated with ‘respect and dignity’, but admitted he was worried for residents[/caption]
The independent councillor, who serves on Sandhurst Town Council, was reportedly put under investigation after he called for more clarity when hundreds of Afghans were placed in local hotels.
He was allegedly reported by Labour councillor Cherise Welch, who accused him of “stirring up hate” after he suggested that key information was being withheld from Berkshire residents.
But it has since been revealed that the Government secretly relocated thousands of Afghans to the UK following a major Ministry of Defence email blunder.
Writing on his Facebook in April, Cllr Edwards called for the migrants to be treated with “respect and dignity”, but admitted he was worried for the knock-on effect for desperate residents.
He said: “Bracknell is resettling over 300 Afghans in a local hotel—and I don’t believe residents are being told the full story.
“I’m increasingly concerned that key information is either being withheld or presented in a way that makes it difficult to see how unfair this scheme is.
“I want to make it clear that everyone arriving on this scheme must be treated with respect and dignity. But I also believe it’s completely reasonable to ask what impact this scheme will have on our area.
“If the money is there to house Afghans in a four-star hotel, why aren’t any of the Labour, Lib Dem or Conservative councillors asking why this hasn’t been provided for Bracknell’s veterans or residents first?
“As a Town Councillor, I felt compelled to look into this and speak up, because no other elected representative was.”
In response, Cllr Welch suggested the post was “complete nonsense”, adding she had reported him to “the MOD, Council and local police“.
Others accused the concerned councillor of “spreading far-right propaganda” and targeting “specific ethnic groups”.
Speaking to The Sun, Cllr Edwards explained he had not been contacted by the police and slammed the local authority for “hounding” him with “baseless” claims.
He said: “It was shocking. I was under the impression we lived in a democratic society and believed in scrutiny of policies.
“The local government has just come for me. I can’t recall any situation where a councillor has been hauled in for an investigation after scrutinising a policy.
“I struggle to see what part of my post actually breached the code of conduct.
“Politically motivated complaints have to be evidenced, but when I asked what I’d done, I was met with vague terms like ‘spreading hate’.
“Now I am being hounded and intimidated by baseless claims. I don’t even know if this has been reported to the police.
“The only thing I asked was how it was going to affect housing and the potential impact on local residents.”
Speaking about the Afghans who were relocated to the UK, he added: “It’s not about the arrivals, it’s about the resources and the parity of support.
“Afghans who have supported our troops have rightly been assisted, but it will be hard for veterans in our local area to not see these as a slap in the face.
“There was a sense of personal vindication when the MOD leak came out, but I still worry that the vetting process has not been stringent enough on these new arrivals.
“It was reported recently that Taliban fighters were on the flights being brought to the UK and being offered places in the hotels, while British vets remain homeless.
“The main worry is that all of this was being covered up.”
He posted pictures of the interior and exterior facilities in the hotel, blurring out the background to conceal the location.
But he was also accused of identifying the hotel by posting the images, which he strongly denies.
Earlier this month, it emerged that almost 20,000 Afghans had been secretly relocated to the UK after a major Ministry of Defence error.
The February 2022 leak was caused by a Special Forces soldier who accidentally shared a list of 18,714 people who had applied to flee to Britain in the wake of the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
The list also included names of their individual UK sponsors including SAS and MI6 spies and at least one Royal Marine Major General.
The clumsy click has potential to be the most expensive data breach in history.
A total of 18,714 Afghans were included on the secret list, many of whom arrived via unmarked planes which landed at Stansted airport.
Although Defence Secretary John Healey has said that the cost of relocating the Afghans and their families will total £400 million, the final cost could be even higher.
The information was kept a secret for 18 months through a superinjunction used by the MoD – the first time one had been used by the Government against the press.
Around 100,000 were put at risk of Taliban death squads when their names or loved ones were revealed in 2022 — with the blunder then “covered up” by the gagging order.
Almost 900 Afghans on the “kill list” email leak are ready to sue — with lawyers saying thousands more are poised to join them.
Legal sources claimed victims whose lives were endangered could be entitled “to five-figure payouts”.
Councillor Welch has been approached for comment.
Facebook / Cllr John EdwardsCllr John Edwards was reported to the police for questioning the decision to house Afghans over locals[/caption]
GettyThe leaked list also included the names of UK sponsors and MI6 spies who could have become targets of the Taliban in Afghanistan[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
